Shia version of al-Qaeda

What if there was a Shia Islam version of al-Qaeda? Wait, that's what Hezbollah is, isn't it? I guess Hezbollah is high-profile but not higher in profile since even though it virtually controls one country's government and is backed by two states considered by the U.S. to be rogue regimes, the organization didn't do anything on the scale of 9/11.

So, could Hezbollah have done something similar to 9/11? Would they even want to? al-Qaeda, I'm beginning to think, has far less centralized organizational infrastructure compared to Hezbollah, since again it basically controls one country and regularly goes to war with Israel, an NGO vs. a nation-state as if it's the Brotherhood of Nod or something.

Also, to those who have a deeper understanding of Islam: are there or could there be any large Islamic terrorist groups based on other schools of thought within Islam other than Wahhabism, Salafism, and Khomeinist Shia revolutionary Islamism?
 
Hezbollah's power is tied to local support and overt social/physical infrastructure. They can hurt Israel but if they threaten Israel in their existence, or simply allow any conflict to become a war of attrition, the best outcome they can hope for is not losing too badly, since they are depending on structures that teh enemy can destroy.

Al Quaeda OTOH seem to be not much more than a propaganda department exploiting vague resentments and directing angry people onto goals. Yes, they may run a few training camps but this alone is not their dangerousness - their independence from fixed infrastructure is. Of course it also limits the AQ's effectiveness.

In comparison, though, it ties in with what i know about theological difference between Shia and Sunni - the latter encourages every believer to follow the prophet by him/herself, while the former is based on adherence to "learned men" (Ayatollahs). So the Shia organizations can be expected to be more heirarchical, more rigidly structured and this would require more "physical" support.
 

Commissar

Banned
Hezbollah does not deliberately target civilians. When they fought the last war they targeted key military and industrial targets with their rocket arsenal.

Granted they were inherently inaccurate, but they did not target civilians.

Al-Qaeda on the other hand deliberately target civilians of those they determine to be enemies and others beside who have nothing to do with the fight.
 
In a magazine article, US investigators constantly find fund raising by the Hezbollah inside the US boundaries by emmigrants which want to give back to the old country. Thus, the investigators report, with such a cash cow the Hezbollah has declared the US boundaries to be strictly off limits to all instigation. Inside Lebanon, the US forces are, of course, very much targets, but blowing up buildings inside the US is extremely unlikely, almost ASB, under the situation as known.
 
In a magazine article, US investigators constantly find fund raising by the Hezbollah inside the US boundaries by emmigrants which want to give back to the old country. Thus, the investigators report, with such a cash cow the Hezbollah has declared the US boundaries to be strictly off limits to all instigation. Inside Lebanon, the US forces are, of course, very much targets, but blowing up buildings inside the US is extremely unlikely, almost ASB, under the situation as known.

A bit like a certain well-known Northern Irish terrorist group if you think about it. Come to think of it, this is actually a rather good analogy-in its goals, structure, and base of support, Hezbollah is much more a Shia Lebanese version of the IRA than anything else.
 
Are there any actual terrorist networks the size or power or prestige of al-Qaeda?

Regarding actual power that can be wielded, Hezbollah far outstrips AQ. But they have an actual constituency they derive this power from, and a certain responsibility towards this constituency.

AQ are rogues in the classical sense of the word: unbound, irresponsible towards everything and everyone, more out to wreak havoc than to reach some clearly delineated goals. Like the 19th century anarchists.
 
So is Hezbollah less like al-Qaeda and more like Hamas? I think it's similar to both. It's transnational, like the former, but it has power concentrated in distinct areas instead of being like a shadowy network, like the latter. I guess ultimately because they are much less 'underground' than AQ is, Hezbollah is more like Hamas.

There's a plethora of al-Qaeda off-shoots or affiliated Islamic terrorist networks, but they either are regional or lesser known, and all are Wahhabi as far as I know.

Could any other schools or strains of Islam create such terrorist groups other than Salafi/Wahhabism? I mean, I know most Chechen militants are Sufi, but perhaps their Islamism is just how they show their non-Russianness. Could there be a Shia version of al-Qaeda that's connected to Hezbollah but distinct from them?
 
Could any other schools or strains of Islam create such terrorist groups other than Salafi/Wahhabism? I mean, I know most Chechen militants are Sufi, but perhaps their Islamism is just how they show their non-Russianness. Could there be a Shia version of al-Qaeda that's connected to Hezbollah but distinct from them?

I guess if Hezbollah forms some kind of specialized overseas terror attack unit - to attack Israeli interests overseas for example - this unit may start working independently after a while. This would probably require Hezbollah to be either significantly weakened, or conversely you can imagine an ISI-like scenario...
 

celt

Banned
I guess if Hezbollah forms some kind of specialized overseas terror attack unit - to attack Israeli interests overseas for example - this unit may start working independently after a while. This would probably require Hezbollah to be either significantly weakened, or conversely you can imagine an ISI-like scenario...

Well apparently they did have a part in this overseas attack.


1994 AMIA bombing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
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